PixelToy

i've trying to use PixelToy live and have impressed a lot of people. one issue i have is that - in auto pilot mode - it will go into long sections of blank screen. i'm performing, so i haven't been able to trouble shoot it.
What i would like to be able to do is set up a time map so that the set changes aren't just every 60 seconds. But, being able to make the first change 3:32 and then the second 5:06, etc. I'm doing some time based effects that i'd like to be able to start the show at 8pm and have the changes occur at specific times. maybe MIDI controllable? even a "program" list would be nice:
0:00 ^[F]
3:12 [H]
4:30 [3]

etc.

maybe this would be a sequencer of sorts. maybe too complicated.

its just that i am playing improv ambient music and the changes are too fast. -especially the audio color effect.

anyway, i should close by saying this is a really great program. i think it is beautiful and adds a bunch to my live music performance which isn't much to look at. i'm been showing it on the ceiling above the band and it creates a very nice effect.

i'm trying to incorporate the randomness aspect as our band is relying on it too. it is a John Cage influenced experiment. he use the I Ching to achieve randomness - or remove his intent from the work. i'm using Hoary Astrology and would like to map the main changes of PixelToy to the "rhythm" of Astrological aspects. even a total randomness of Set change and element change would be better than a linear 20 seconds.[/b]

Heya! I use my pixeltoy... going on... can it be four years?... to perform live. We are Psychedelic FoxFire and we have a digital projector that gives us great color and strong images. I started doing this with a Grateful Dead cover band, though now we use it for Herb & the Herbs, a Band for All Seasonings, and working with the Dead band (The Schwag) meant there was NO SONG LIST! I couldn't count on knowing if they would even FINISH a song let alone what they would do afterwards.Having the ability to perform live in real time kept me on my toes and I call these performances "Visual Music". My goal is to make at least 3000 hippies fall down at one time! I have come close. Very close! But having a 20 foot by 16 foot image responding as an instrument in the music is pretty amazing. I actually perform from the stage and it makes a very big difference. Especially with music as impromptu as a jam band.

The reason that Pixeltoy is so perfect for this is because you not only have so many presets but you also have the ability to set it all in motion, making it up, as it were, as you go along, by just getting all the presets to be compatible to a specific position in the song list... like, every thing set for a song but changing the actions, filters, palettes, etc as the song progresses.

I never use auto pilot in a show, though... and I often do the pixeltoy while singing, and playing percussion. Takes a little planning and careful stage arrangements, but it can be done effectively.